What to do When Boss Thinks You are Not Meeting Expectations

When it comes to your performance, you are about to know what to do when boss thinks you are not meeting expectations.

You’ve really been passionate about your work, arriving on time, keeping up with assignments, playing your role in projects and then retiring home after a long day at work.

As far as you are concern, everything at work is going on fine.

It’s not like you feel excited about your job every day, but somehow, you’re putting in your very best.

Then to your amazement, your employer asks to meet with you in his office one morning to talk about your performance.

After the meeting, you feel trampled upon and surprised because your employer isn’t satisfied with your current level of performance.

Or maybe it’s time for your end of year performance review exercise, and your boss’s score doesn’t match with the optimistic one you gave yourself about your performance.

This kind of situation can happen to almost anyone.

When your workplace expectations are not the same with that of your manager, it can cause stress, anxiety and tension for all.

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Clearly, the least difficult performance discussion is those where the employer and employee have related views on employee’s performance.

However, it happens that this is not always the case.

If this may be applicable to you, think about the following guides on how to take charge of the situation when you might receive a poor performance review.

Emotionally And Mentally, Get Ready Before the Conversation

Now, the time set for the meeting is on and you are about to meet your boss in his office.

Before entering, make sure you prepare your mind to treat the meeting as one man’s perspective about your performance not necessarily what your true performance really is.

Performance discussions involve useful information and feedback on how you are performing in a particular position within the company.

It is not the same with the evaluation of your self-worth or how you might perform in a different position or a different company.

Don’t take their feedback to heart.

Instead, use that information to improve yourself and the way you interact with colleagues.

Be Honest with Yourself

It is not easy to accept that we might be going through challenges at work or our performance is not what we aimed at yet.

Take an honest look in the mirror.

After you must have had a heart to heart with yourself, get clear on whether or not your manager’s perspective has a point.

If it does, take action and improve yourself.

Before You React, Think!

Most of the times, when we receive negative feedbacks on our performance, it can quickly stir up emotions.

If this happens to you, take your time and contain it.

Try by taking a deep breath and count three before you utter something that might trigger an outburst which will make matter only worst.

The best thing to do is to listen attentively to what your boss has to say, give a little bit of time say one week to process the information before you may react or respond.

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Ask Your Boss for A Performance Improvement Plan

If you agree within yourself that there is validity in your manager’s point of view, ask for improvement plan that highlights tailored goals and objectives.

Be certain to follow his prescribed ways to improve your work performance.

The goals and objectives should be SMART i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, readable, and time bound to reach them.

The more specific, the clearer it will be that you have achieved the requested goals.

Want Training and Education

Consult your boss on suggestions that can make you improve.

He can guide you through resource materials that can help you work on the problem that is militating your improvement.

Go online and search or ask your colleagues for helpful tips.

When you do that, it will show that you have initiative and that you really care about your work performance.

Get A Career or Personal Coach

Getting help from a career or personal coach when you see that you are struggling with work is a wise thing to do.

Check out your locality, there may be one or two of such people around or ask your network if they have any suggestions or better still, do an online search for a career or personal coach that’s in your locality.

Many coaches work solely via emails or phones.

So, this may call to probably expand your search so that you may find the right trainer that fits perfectly into your needs and budget.

See It As One Of Life Lessons

Research as reported by Gallup reveal that one out of two of 8,000 adults in the US alone leaves their job to get away from their boss at some point in their career life.

In some situation, you might not be quite fortunate but unfortunate to be stuck with a bad boss and there is little you can do about it but to move on.

If this is your situation, don’t get too hard on yourself instead be positive about it and consider it a lesson on what not to do when you become a manager someday.

Look For Another Opportunity

If you see that your poor performance is because you are not enjoying your current position or company, then start getting your resume and marketing kit ready so you can apply for open positions and companies that are the right fit for you because job fit is crucial for career success.

Please leave a comment down below if you found this article useful. Thank you!

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